God is No Delusion: A Refutation of Richard Dawkins
by Thomas Crean
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Book Summary Information
Author: Thomas CreanBrand: Ignatius Press
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-10-31
ISBN: 158617231X
Number of pages: 160
Publisher: Ignatius Pr
Book Reviews of God is No Delusion: A Refutation of Richard Dawkins
Book Review: Not just a refutation, but an education as well.
Summary: 5 Stars
It will be difficult to do justice to the book. The concision, clarity and brilliance of Thomas Crean O.P's book is a hard act to follow and it is a complete refutation of Dawkins' delusions. While I have read several good responses to Dawkin's less than sophomoric (Plantinga) ill-considered and poorly researched works, Crean's book does precisely what it sets out to do and not just from a generalized theist perspective, but from the perspective of a Catholic theist and philosopher. He is very effective and provides helpful examples to help us grasp his subtler points.
With the utmost civility and good manners, a welcome contrast to some new atheist writers, he dismantles the house of cards in which the body of Dawkin's book resides.
He first diagnoses the fundamental error of Dawkins thesis being an inductive argument from complexity which he thinks mistakenly can be applied to God. It can't. He doesn't attempt to even defend the principle, and as Crean argues and also illustrates with the example of a cathedral, the product of a simple idea, complexity cannot be the ultimate explanation of anything. Such an ultimate 'explanation' or cause must be simple.
Crean next addresses the unarticulated philosophy of Dawkins, materialism , defined as the belief that 'Everything that exists is matter or a property of matter. This would include human free will and thoughts to a materialist. Here he points out, Dawkins is no longer doing science, but philosophy as no scientific grounds exist to embrace materialism and deny the spiritual. Mind is not banished from the universe so easily.
Crean asks if materialism is necessary or even possible. Referring to Thomas Jefferson's refusal to move beyond the import of the senses, Crean points out that the idea of "being" and the idea of 'material' are quite distinct from each other. Materilism is not necessary. Oddly, Dawkins does not give a single reason in support of materialism.
In the case of human thoughts, Crean asks how an electron can be "about" something. An electron is what it is: it's not 'about' something else like tomorrow's weather. He shows how materialist attempts to explain thought involve other absurdities. How many electrons in the idea "Nothing in excess"? Does the circumference of circles as two times pi times the radius depend upon matter? Must there be round physical things for this to be true?
In a section on Aquinas and his five proofs for the existence of God, Crean shows clearly that Dawkins does not even understand what Aquinas was arguing, thinking it related to the Big Bang and not the real and immediate cause of being right now and always. He points out that a First Cause must cause changes without being changed itself. If it does change, it is not the first cause. This must be beyond change, unlike the varieties of physical change we commonly see.
Crean proceeds calmly and dispassionately dismantling the arguments made and presupposed by Dawkins on the possibility of miracles citing the predicted events at Fatima witnessed by some 70,000 people and to which Dawkins does not advance a single argument beyond his apparently blind faith in materialism. So too in textual criticism of the gospels Dawkins is revealed to be, how shall I say it, unreliable.
Crean in like manner demonstrates the glaring deficiencies of Dawkin's treatment of the development of morality and religion, ending with a final chapter on Dawkins treatment of the Catholic Church.
This is an excellent, scholarly book from a man who has, unlike Dawkins, actually devoted his considerable talents and intelligence to the various subject matters addressed. It is a beautifully concise and lucid education in the most fundamental issues of our day and a complete refutation of Dawkin's amateurish rants.It's good that Dawkins wrote his forgettable book which has occasioned this vastly more interesting and informative work of Thomas Crean O.P.
You will enjoy this short, readable book immensely.
Summary of God is No Delusion: A Refutation of Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins, biologist and best-selling author, claims that belief in God is a "delusion" and that "religion" harms society. Dawkins contends that he has reason and evidence on his side, and he dismisses faith as unfounded, even irrational.Dominican Thomas Crean tackles Dawkins' claims head-on. He presents straightforward arguments for God's existence, and he uses reason and evidence to defend such things as miracles and the authority of the Bible. He also shows how God is important for a coherent understanding of morality, and why Dawkins' approach winds up reducing morality to the individual's subjective likes and dislikes. By demonstrating how Dawkins' criticisms rest on misunderstandings, superficial readings, poor argumentation, a lack of historical awareness, and not a little prejudice, Crean reveals Dawkins to be out of his philosophical and theological depth, and his case against God to be fundamentally flawed.
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